The Continuation
by Elleinaday
Summary: What path will Tybalt walk after Juliet's sacrifice?
1. Chapter 1

Romeo and Juliet

The Continuation

One week after Juliet had made her sacrifice and saved the floating city of Neo-Verona, the city was in a frenzy trying to rebuild what they had lost. Curio lost himself in the work of rebuilding and allowed it take his mind off of destiny and how cruel it could be. Francisco found comfort in the assembly, using his skills to help build a better Neo-Verona. Conrad decided that he was done with changing the world. He saw the changes he'd been fighting for and the younger generation was now leading the way. He began to just enjoy life with his family and the people he loves.

Tybalt watched them all from a distance. He had never been part of the Capulet clan, even though he shared their blood. He was as far from noble as one could get. The information network he'd built up was gone, every one scattering in the destruction. He knew he could build it up again, but to what end? What was his purpose now that Montegue was dead, and there was no Princess to put on the throne and guard. It was this aimlessness that led him to the base of Escalus.

Juliet was not gone. She had become the goddess of their island nation and would need protecting. Perhaps, if the original Escalus had been protected adequately, this whole thing might have been avoided.

He found himself often in the company of the young tree. He would not have sought her out had she still been a human girl in love with his brother. As it was, this might have been the only place he felt he belonged. He stood in the shade of her leaves and considered her. The legends said she would be suffering for as long as she is alive. She is the continual sacrifice for the sin of mankind. That was a fate he had tried to protect her from, but failed. He also failed to protect Romeo as he promised her he would. With a heavy heart, he approached her trunk and placed his hand against the bark. "I'm Sorry." He said, not sure if she would know he was there or not. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect Romeo." He stood there, with his eyes closed and his hand on the tree. He didn't know if she was aware of the world around her, or if it was merely a comfort to him to finally say it. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." There was something about saying the words. Regardless of if she knew or not, he knew. "I swear Juliet, you won't suffer alone." He sighed deeply and rested his head on her trunk. There was so much he wanted to say to her. So much to thank her for and so much to apologize for. So much to yell at her for.

There was a rustling of leaves above him and he thought for a moment it must be a bird but it sounded off and when he looked up he saw a small branch bending and stretching and working it's way closer to him. He watched in confusion as the branch came to rest on his shoulder and stayed there. "What is ... Juliet ..." He didn't know what to say, suddenly faced with the idea that she was really there and he wasn't just seeking comfort in a tree that reminded him of the one time he felt he'd had a family. She was still here, and she had been all this time. He thought for a moment what it must have been like for her, trading her life for theirs, loosing Romeo, and being generally forgotten while the city set about it's efforts to get life back together. He couldn't remember the last time he was at such a loss for words, but as the meaning become clear he found a feeling of sorrow flooding through him. "Oh, Juliet." He spoke looking up at her branches and leaves and knowing now that she was indeed still there. "Juliet, I won't leave you here alone. I will protect you and if I can find a way to save you from this fate, I will." As he spoke, he reached up to touch the branch that he'd allowed to sit on his shoulder and it curled around his fingers like vines, holding his hand. They were so small and young that he wondered how she would have been able to uphold the world even if they had done it in time. How in the world could he save her now? Was it too late? Would he let everyone know and have her family and friends help him? He was the only one who knew that Juliet was still alive in the tree of Escalus. If he kept that knowledge to himself, it would be easier to protect her.

He turned to go, planning to find what legends he could, or what answers might be out there, but she seemed reluctant to let go. Her thin branches that had curled around his hand tightened slightly before he pulled away and as he took the first few steps the breeze picked up and he could have sworn he heard a plea on the wind.

"Stay." It seemed to say. He looked back at her, leaves swaying in the wind, and tried to decide if he had really heard her or if his mind was playing tricks on him. "Stay." The wind whispered to him again.

"Alright," He said, "I'll stay a while longer." and walked back to sit and lean against the tree.

The moment his back touched the bark fuzzy images filled his mind. Memories of the night he had killed the priest and Juliet had cried in his arms. The feelings that came across in those images though were strong and he knew she was trying to communicate with him. Sitting there, letting her emotions wash over him, he thought about that night. Had she been crying for the necessity of the death, or for the fact that she couldn't do it? Had she reached a breaking point with everything she was trying so hard to be and realized how hopeless it was? It was the first time she had confided in him. One of the only times, and he wasn't sure what she'd been saying. It hadn't seemed important at the time. Maybe what she was trying to communicate now was a simple desire for comfort. She'd been alone mourning for Romeo and with no one to help her in her strange new role. Maybe Ophelia would have been a bigger help as the previous Capulet girl if they hadn't killed her. Maybe it wasn't supposed to be this way and the old Escalus should have survived longer and been a source of strength to the younger girl if Montegue's hatred hadn't rotted it away before it's time. "It's alright," He said, "I'll stay as long as you need me to." Shifting his position, he settled down for a long day of standing vigil over this precious girl who had come to be his only family.


	2. Chapter 2

Tybalt spent every moment he could spare sitting at the base of Escalus. He often thought of Juliet while he sat there trying to listen to her. She was getting better at expressing herself through emotion and imagery. That first day when she'd been so desperate for company, he could barely even hear her. After that day, she'd been silent for a while. He had no idea why she  
was suddenly so silent, except that maybe there wasn't much to say. He wondered if she'd gotten depressed and needed time to herself. So, feeling uncertain about his actions, he kept his distance while staying in her general area.

He hadn't considered how difficult it might be for a tree to communicate until he heard her again. She simply said "come" when he was already standing fairly close to her. "I'm here, Juliet." He said, thinking that maybe she didn't realize, or wasn't aware like he originally thought. But she repeated her request. "Come." So he did. He reached out and lifted his hands to her branches where she could wrap them around him again. She did, but it was slow and he wondered that maybe she was just barely learning to control and be the will of Escalus. He waited patiently for her.

When he felt her grip on him was firm, that's when the images came. They were still fuzzy, and at most he just got vague impressions from her. There was a mountain with a waterfall, and behind it, a cave. She seemed attracted to this place. This was not what he expected. It was difficult for him, her feelings made clear but her intentions and meaning vague. He was sure the feelings were not his own, but he still felt them. He felt compelled to go there, though he wasn't sure where there was. He could not help but be awed by her. Even when trapped as she is, she still hadn't given up.

When he first saw her, he'd thought she was weak. This girl parading around as a boy. So innocent and unspoiled. With her family keeping her safe all these years, what could she possibly know about the harsh realities of the world. He wasn't blind, he'd seen the way Curio and Francisco looked at her. They'd never allow her to experience or discover anything dangerous. Including him, if they could have helped it. She'd all but proven her weakness when she couldn't kill the priest. If he hadn't  
been there, she'd be long gone. It was her tears that gave him pause, and made him think. He could not summon a shred of  
feeling for that man. Maybe they were right to keep her in the dark. After all, what did he expect? Someone as jaded as himself? So he forgave her. He held her in his arms and decided that it was alright if she was just a girl. Maybe that's what Neo-Verona needed. Either way, it wasn't his concern. His plan was to kill Montegue ... nothing else mattered.

Looking back, he can see how foolish he'd been. Yet again, it was Juliet who pointed out how similar he was to Montegue, and brought about a subtle change in him. He wasn't about to give up on killing Montegue, but maybe instead of rage and hatred, he would only let it be a cold calculated decision. For if nothing else, he was certainly a realist.

That day, when she'd shown him the cave beyond the waterfall, he'd set out to find it. Taking a dragon horse and searching the land for random waterfalls, he remembered the feeling of wanting to be there and sought it out. Thinking she'd shown it to him for a reason, he searched the cave for hours. He never found what he was looking for. The frustration of a fruitless search, and the inability to understand her was wearing him down. In the cave, hidden by the waterfall, he felt secluded from the world. Angrily he punched the walls and released the tension with his shouts. When he had finally wore himself out, he sat down on the floor and simply watched the wall of water. It was depressing that she couldn't tell him what she meant. Sighing heavily he leaned back till he was laying on his back. "Juliet … what am I gonna do?" As he lay on the floor of the cave he pondered his options. He wouldn't be able to keep up his current ways for long. After all, he wasn't wealthy. He didn't really think she'd approve of his previous methods of earning cash. Though it never bothered him before and he wondered that it should bother him now.

When he went back to her, he could hear her calling his name before he even got there. Concerned, he picked up his pace and rushed to her clearing. She was already reaching out her branches for him. Without a moments hesitation he stepped into them. "What's happened, Juliet?" He asked. "Are you alright?"

In response, her limbs twisted around him in a way she'd never done before. Strong limbs encircled his waist and smaller branches covered his arms and legs. It was almost as though she was trying to consume him. He spared it no thought as fear for her, rather than of her, was forefront on his mind. As she continued to cover him he felt her regret seeping through. His mind was filled with images of earlier in the day. He saw himself at the cave, as an outsider would see him, and knew these were her memories. He watched himself grow frustrated and angry. He watched as he shouted and punched at the walls. He wasn't sure how she knew about that, or why she was showing him until he heard her speak. He heard her more clearly than he had previously thought possible. "I'm sorry Tybalt." She said. "I didn't want to be a burden to you."

Feeling her surrounding him and realizing that her communication was stronger for it, he grasped her branches tightly and endeavored to keep her there talking to him as long as possible. "Juliet, you are never a burden to me. Please don't be sorry. That anger was never meant for you. Can I ask why you sent me there?"

"I wanted to talk to you Tybalt, just to talk to you. I never meant for you to search it out. There is no secret there."  
He relaxed slightly as the fear that had him race to her side fell away. "I'm glad. It was a good place. I felt. .. " He caught himself before he went any further with that thought. "Juliet, how much can you see?" He asked, a little of his usual hardness coming back, tinged with genuine curiosity.  
"I will try to tell you, but first, what did you feel in my cave besides anger?"  
He was reluctant to answer, not really one to talk about himself. However, he didn't know how to decline without seeming petty and ungrateful. So he opted for the shortest most precise answer. "I felt safe." It came out with more wonder than he intended and he immediately felt embarrassed. "So can you see everything? Or just certain regions? Can you make yourself appear like Ophelia did? "  
She would have smiled if she could, rather she let her pleased feelings overflow from her branches to show him that he'd made her particularly happy with that admission. She hadn't realized at first that her feelings were reaching him. She kind of just put two and two together when he was at the cave. Now though, she would try to use it to communicate more clearly.

Peaceful thoughts. She wanted him to feel peace as she spoke. "I have become Escalus, Tybalt. Where there is an abundance of nature, I am there. I don't really understand it myself, except that my roots are everywhere. I can feel them in places far away, and as they grow stronger and thicker I can more clearly sense the areas they hide in. Tybalt ... I am okay with things the way they have become. I am strengthening the land and giving life to the fields. People won't starve anymore. Please do not be troubled over me. You need to live your life. It's why I gave up mine."

He could not believe she was trying to get him to leave her alone. Not after all that. "Surely you must have already forgotten your life if you don't recall who I am?" He scoffed. "Who was it Juliet, who watched you crumble to pieces when you finally learned the truth of the world? Who was it you felt the need to confide in when you made the decision to become Escalus?" He was getting angry and his voice was rising. "Tell me Juliet, who was it who sat for days, right here, as you fought the desperation that came with realizing what you'd done and what you'd lost. You can't honestly think for one second that I'm going to believe that you don't need me. You've lived your entire life being loved and protected. It doesn't matter how at ease and happy the feelings I get from you are. I was there in the beginning, I felt your despair, and there's no way in hell I'm leaving you to face it alone."

All at once it was like a wall breaking. Her leaves shook as she tried to keep it together but it didn't hold and he felt a strong wave of misery hit him without warning. It made him want to cry, it was so strong. He let out a long shaky breath, "Juliet … I'm not going anywhere."

"Tybalt," Her voice was sad and came out like a cry "I don't want to watch you die. That's what will happen you know? I'm the last Escalus. I will live many lifetimes and you will only have one. My family will only have one. I don't want you to live the rest of your life here, at this little clearing with me and then die with nothing to show for having lived. I would rather you go and do amazing things and come back and tell me of them. Stories that I can remember forever, long after you are gone. I don't want you to leave Tybalt, but I don't want you to stay here and die either."

He stood still, thinking, thoroughly entangled in her leaves and branches. He could still feel her sadness and it was like she wasn't trying to hold it back from him anymore. That thought made him glad, and he almost told her, but the timing wasn't right. "A compromise then." He said. "I will stay here, and tell you everything there is to tell about me and where I've been and what I've done. The things I am ashamed of, and the things I never thought I would tell anyone. You will know everything about me before I go and do as you have asked. Once I can think of nothing more to tell, I will leave, and do something that would make you proud. When I have accomplished it, I will come back, and tell you that as well."

Reluctantly Juliet agreed, and so the two talked. For days they talked. He would leave for the basic necessities, but always he came right back. He told her of his mother and of Montegue and how she somehow never lost her love for him. He told her how he made it in this world of crooks and how he learned his ways around the darkness. He confessed how he thought he'd never love, in any sense of the word as hatred for Montegue consumed him. Told her how she had shown him the way with her love for Romeo.

It wasn't all sad, he told her humorous stories of mistakes he'd made and pranks he'd played. He tried to start from his earliest memories and work his way up. Through all of this, her speaking to him seemed to get easier and she no longer needed to wrap herself so completely around him. He would greet her by lifting his hand to her closest branches and she would simply wrap one branch around his hand.

One day when he came she raised her roots for him to create a seat and covered it with her leaves. He laughed openly at her, and refused to sit, claiming he had no need for such comforts. He would never say it, but he had come to prefer the closeness he felt when he was entirely wrapped up in her.

As the days progressed he could feel himself running out of things to tell her. When he went home in the evenings, he thought over every moment of his life that he could remember and when there was nothing left that he hadn't already told her, he thought about other people, and if he could get away with telling her about them. He knew that it wouldn't work and resolved the next morning to tell her one last thing, before it would be time for him to go. He would tell her that he loved her.


End file.
